# Portrait of Cardinal Zelada

- By: Anton Raphael Mengs (German, 1728–1779)
- Date: 1773
- Medium: Oil on panel
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: 90 × 66 cm (35 7/16 × 26 in.)
- Culture: Germany
- Credit line: Purchased with funds provided by Silvain and Arma Wyler Foundation
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/30899)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/e53b4972-30dc-5aed-1696-2b5778277d60/full/!1672,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Anton Raphael Mengs worked for princely clients in Dresden, Madrid, Naples, and Rome, and was an early promoter of the Neoclassical style in art and writing. Francesco Saverio Zelada, depicted here, was an enthusiast of the arts and sciences who eventually rose to the position of Secretary of State for the Vatican. This work was probably commissioned when Zelada was made a cardinal in 1773. The sitter proudly holds a biretta, the scarlet cap traditionally worn by cardinals. Meng’s masterful use of color and texture to enhance the status of his sitters is on full display here through the evocation of silk, lace, fur, and ruddy flesh.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0